Crown Jewel Bolivia San Lorenzo Yulissa Chambi Anaerobic Washed CJ1493 – *52011* – 27098 – SPOT RCWHSE

taste

Taste Analysis by Chris Kornman 

Folks at The Crown are often fond of teasing me for my preference for washed coffee profiles. Natural coffees that I love which cross my path are often mild in their fruitiness and completely lacking any hint of booziness. You could call these types of coffees “naturals for washed-coffee lovers.” 

Well, here we have the exact opposite. This is an anaerobically fermented washed coffee that tastes just like an immaculately clean natural. 

At the cupping table we noted the distinctive soft sweetness of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, paired elegantly with sweet cherry notes and a distinctive floral finish. The flavors reminded me a little of fresh green melon in a pour-over, while notes of grape candy, plum, and bright pomegranate were present as well. 

source

Source Analysis by Mayra Orellana-Powell 

Coffee has been in Bolivia for hundreds of years, but now a new generation of coffee farmers dedicated to producing high-quality coffee are taking the stage in Bolivia. For the first time in the country’s history, green coffee production has funding and support from the federal government, fueling the search for knowledge among dedicated young coffee professionals. 

The epicenter in the rise of Bolivian specialty coffee is in the Los Yungas region, where most farms were first established after a wave of migration to the region caused by Bolivia’s Agrarian Revolution in the 1950s. And nearly a century later this lot emerges from a single 10-acre farm belonging to Yulissa Chambi and her family. 

Yulissa is just 21 years old and working on her university degree but also comes with a family that has been growing coffee in the Yungas region of Bolivia for over 60 years. Yulissa carefully harvests the cherry, depulps, ferments the coffee in sealed tanks, washes, and dries the coffee on patios and raised beds. Since Bolivia is a landlocked coffee producing country, farmers need help getting their coffee to the international market. Felix Chambi Garcia through his leadership role at the San Juan cooperative has become an important figure, helping producers with the logistics of moving coffee to the dry mill where quality and traceability are protected during the preparation for export. 

green

Green Analysis by Chris Kornman 

This nicely sorted anaerobically fermented washed coffee comes in at moderate density and delightfully stable moisture figures (especially nice given the long transit time from a land-locked country). The screen size is fairly tightly distributed at mostly 17-19, somewhat on the larger-than-average size. 

We’re accustomed to seeing long-berry type seed appearance from Bolivia, Typica trees grow here in abundance and are well known for their elongated shape to both the leaf and cherry. In addition, Yulissa Chambi is growing the short-stature arabica hybrid Catuai. Once the coffee has been picked and processed, despite the fully washed nature of the wet milling steps a strong, fruity aroma and some light-reddish silver skin remain on the export-ready seeds, reminiscent of natural type coffee processing. This carries through to the cup in a clean but distinctive berry-like flavor. 

diedrich IR-5

Diedrich IR-5 Analysis by Doris Garrido 

Finally Bolivian coffees are landing, and I am really excited to roast and cup this coffee from Los Yungas by the producer Yulissa Chambi. I have not met her in person, but I feel like if I knew her through Sandra Loofbourow, our former content director who was invited last year to judge La Taza Presidencial hosted by the Bolivian government and meet the whole Chambi Family. And I got to hear about Yulissa and all the work and care she has invested into this crop of Typica and Catuai processed as an anaerobic washed coffee and that make me proud that her coffee was selected on the Royal Coffee Crown Jewel program.  

To start roasting I set the charge temperature at 426F with 70% of gas and took it to 100% right away as I noticed that the coffee was able to take it. On the metrics the green came with average density and moisture, that gave me confidence to push a little faster on the drying phase. With 1:30 seconds I reach turning point at 188F. At minute 4:11 my exhaust temperature starts marking 426.4F. It was time to take my gas to the lowest 30%. I did it looking to flatten my exhaust curve and by doing that I was able to run through Maillard smoothly, lowering the bean rate of rise readings with a pace that allowed the roast to hit first crack at 15/60 sec RoR. I started the 50% of air flow right after the color change to help control the RoR and opened the 100% after cracking looking for a cleaner roast. 

I marked first crack at 387.4F, I gave it a development time of 1:19 minutes. I killed the burners at 399F with enough power to end the roast and drop the coffee at 402F.  

First, the cup tasted clean, juicy and fruity. We found orange blossom, plum, sweet cherry, ripe grapes, mint, nougat, Hazelnut chocolate, and a long-lasting aftertaste. I would say that in general it was an easy roast, the coffee responded well to the heat resulting in a rich and complex cup without any taste of fermentation defects. And now I am wondering, if Yulissa Chambi is starting with this delicious coffee can I wait to taste what she is going to produce in the future!?  

aillio bullet r1

Aillio Bullet R1 IBTS Analysis by Evan Gilman 

Unless otherwise noted, we use both the roast.world site and Artisan software to document our roasts on the Bullet. You can find our roast documentation below, by searching on roast.world, or by clicking on the Artisan links below.  

Generally, we have good results starting our 500g roasts with 428F preheating, P6 power, F2 fan, and d6 drum speed. Take a look at our roast profiles below, as they are constantly changing! 

At long last we have the arrival of Bolivian coffees – one of the origins I’ve had the least experience with due to their rarity. This coffee had a good long transit, but its very balanced green metrics have really helped to stabilize what might have been a rough ride. More than that, they also led to predictable roasting. Perhaps too predictable for an overcaffeinated roaster, but we’ll get into that in a moment! 

I started this roast off at 437F, P8 power, and F1 fan. This was all a little hotter than normal, but I wanted to get this coffee past turning point expeditiously. For fan speed, I tried increasing by one mark every two minutes, after an initial adjustment to F3 at 2:20 / 276F. My final adjustment was to increase to F6 at 9:00 / 390F, a touch after First Crack.  

As for heat application, after Turning Point I lowered heat application to P6 for roughly 1:30 at 1:40 / 237F to really coast into Maillard from the last half of Green/Drying. This worked out well, and I reduced RoR to 19F/min as I marked Yellowing. Returning to P7 at 3:12 / 300F, I maintained the same heat application until I just couldn’t leave well enough alone.  

I thought I was observing a real crash in my RoR after using F5 fan speed, and attempted to compensate by adding power to P8 at 7:37 / 370F. This was my Big Mistake. In a totally predictable development, Rate of Rise began to accelerate into First Crack. I returned to P7 and added the aforementioned fan speed to F6 with my tail between my legs.  

My final temp was 405F, with roughly 18% development – something I feel I could have cut earlier. This coffee is remarkable for many reasons, but one of them is that it doesn’t seem to take on coloration quite as swiftly as one might expect in Post-Crack development. Dropping at 400F would have been a good move.  

Despite all of these shenanigans, the cup wasn’t terrible. The roasty characteristics one might expect with a late-in-roast spike in RoR are certainly present, but completely faded as the cup cooled. Super crisp Bosc pear, brown sugar, and starfruit tartness came through the heavy caramelized sugar notes exacerbated by my high drop temperature. Pretty salvageable, but I’d recommend NOT adding more heat moving into First Crack!  

You can view my roast on roast.world here: https://roast.world/@egilman/roasts/g5bpe1mxrp62kNP3jreut 

brew

Brew Analysis by Colin Cahill

I’ve been dreaming about Bolivian coffees since our former co-worker Sandra Loofbourow traveled there as the head international judge for the Taza Presidencial and returned with stories and samples that captivated us here in The Crown. This particular coffee comes with an awesome background story (see Mayra’s source analysis), and it was delicious to brew up. It is a bold, rich, sweet coffee, so we focused our brew analysis on cone brewers that would lighten the body and mouthfeel and add clarity to our brews. While one could go all-in on rich, heavy, chocolate-y notes in a flat-bottom or immersion brewer, we examined the nuances of its sweetness and acidity with the Hario V60.   

For our first brew (and first included recipe) on the V60, we started with a dose of 19 grams ground at an 8 on our EK43, and we poured an initial pulse of 50 grams of water, allowing it to bloom for 40 seconds before pouring 150 more grams of water, and then a final pulse of 100 grams of water. It finished brewing in 3:50 with a TDS of 1.44. This brew was fudgey with notes of raw chocolate, tootsie rolls, macadamia nut, strawberry, and cherry liquor, with a high degree of sweetness. To lighten it up, we coarsened the grind size on our EK43, and held the other variables steady, finishing in 3:27 with a TDS of 1.4. This brew had more complex sweet notes, with rich date flavor, and hints of tiramisu, toasted marshmallow, and pomelo. 

We decided to try reducing the dose from 19 grams to 18 grams and ground it at a 9 on our EK43. We used the same dose of water and the same brewing pulses, and this third brew (the second recipe included) finished in 3:22 witha  TDS of 1.35. This brew had bright notes of cherry and pomegranate, notes of milk chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, and the sweetness of maple syrup. It had an incredible balance of chocolate and fruits and will be a real crowd pleaser. I can imagine it will make a sweet and syrupy espresso or could be a delicious filter coffee offering.  

For our first brew (and first included recipe) on the V60, we started with a dose of 19 grams ground at an 8 on our EK43, and we poured an initial pulse of 50 grams of water, allowing it to bloom for 40 seconds before pouring 150 more grams of water, and then a final pulse of 100 grams of water. It finished brewing in 3:50 with a TDS of 1.44. This brew was fudgey with notes of raw chocolate, tootsie rolls, macadamia nut, strawberry, and cherry liquor, with a high degree of sweetness. To lighten it up, we coarsened the grind size on our EK43, and held the other variables steady, finishing in 3:27 with a TDS of 1.4. This brew had more complex sweet notes, with rich date flavor, and hints of tiramisu, toasted marshmallow, and pomelo.

We decided to try reducing the dose from 19 grams to 18 grams and ground it at a 9 on our EK43. We used the same dose of water and the same brewing pulses, and this third brew (the second recipe included) finished in 3:22 witha  TDS of 1.35. This brew had bright notes of cherry and pomegranate, notes of milk chocolate and chocolate chip cookies, and the sweetness of maple syrup. It had an incredible balance of chocolate and fruits and will be a real crowd pleaser. I can imagine it will make a sweet and syrupy espresso or could be a delicious filter coffee offering.